Helping teams to shift from a task-focus to writing user stories requires a different approach than simply introducing user stories as a new tool. You have to adapt the existing practices, by changing how teams think about and discuss the work they do. “Change from…” is different for people than […]
Agile / Product Management / User Stories
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How To Make Your Product Special
When evaluating a product, a customer may see the product as special, adequate, inadequate, or awful. What is uncomfortable for product teams is they have no control over how the customer sees the product. They only have influence. What teams need to learn is how to approach creating the product […]
Agile / Prioritization / Product Management / Product Strategy / Project Management / Requirements / Requirements Models / Software development / User Stories
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Agile at Scale – Outcome Driven (or Broken)
An organization attempting to use agile processes at scale must be outcome driven – without intentionality the system of delivery breaks down and operates no better than waterfall.
Business Analysis / Product Management / Requirements / Requirements Models / User Stories
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Outside-In User Story Example
Being “outside-in”, “outcome-based”, and “market-driven” is particularly important for creating successful products. The problem is that just saying the words is not enough to help someone shift their thinking. For those of us who are already thinking this way, the phrases become touchstones or short-hand. For folks who are not […]
Agile / Business Analysis / Prioritization / Process Improvement / Product Management / Project Management / Requirements / ROI / Software development / User Stories
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Agile Estimation, Prediction, and Commitment
Your boss wants a commitment. You want to offer a prediction. Agile, you say, only allows you to estimate and predict – not to commit. “Horse-hockey!” your boss exclaims, “I want one throat to choke, and it will be yours if you don’t make a commitment and meet it.” There’s […]
Agile / Business Analysis / Requirements / Requirements Models / Software development / User Stories
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Agile Documentation
Agile values working software over comprehensive documentation – it is 1/4th of the original manifesto. That doesn’t mean don’t document! It means don’t document more than you need to document. Documentation does have value, but the practice of documenting got excessive – that’s why a reaction to the bad stuff […]
Agile / Business Analysis / Ishikawa Diagram / Prioritization / Product Management / Requirements / Requirements Models / Software development / Software requirements specification / User Stories
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Atomic Requirements
Each requirement you write represents a single market need, that you either satisfy or fail to satisfy. A well written requirement is independently deliverable and represents an incremental increase in the value of your software. That is the definition of an atomic requirement. Read on to see why atomic requirements […]
Agile / Business Analysis / Product Management / Requirements / Requirements Models / Software development / User Stories
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Sprint Backlog – Don’t Solve Half of the Problem
Every team that transitions to agile faces this problem – some stories are too big to fit in a single sprint. Most of the teams that I have worked with have the wrong instinct – to solve half of the problem for all users. The right approach is to first […]
Agile / Foundation series / Requirements / Requirements Models / Software development / Testing / User Stories
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Foundation Series: Inside A Scrum Sprint
People who already use Scrum will only find one new thing in this article – a way to communicate what happens inside a sprint that has proven effective for me. People who are new to Scrum who wonder “how do things work inside a sprint?” will see how things work […]